The crowd below me sits in eerie silence. My father stands up, looming above their cowering faces. I stare down his back where his long brassy hair is braided down his back. My eyes follow his gesture to the trumpets where I catch a glimpse of my warped face, my blonde hair sticking to my forehead. I zone out for most of his speech, with no desire to listen to his booming voice pierce the people’s hearts with fear. 

“And lastly, the taxes for this month will go up another quarter portion,” my father, King Emory, commands. There is still nothing but the sound of shuffling feet to be heard. That is until a scrawny boy with chopped auburn hair climbs up a lamp post next to him.

“You have got to be out of your spirits damned mind if you think that we can afford that. We are already scraping by as it is and you want more money? For what, to support your-.” The voice from the crowd stops, his body crumbles to the floor as my father’s sword gets called back to his hand, now stained with blood of this boy, no older than 15 years of age. 

I hate the fact that I barely flinch at the stench of metal singing my nose. While I admire his bravery, the best way to preserve yourself is to stay silent. I instinctively brush my forearm, remembering that first lesson. The rough slice of a scar reaches back up for my hand. I can feel my own fear thrum under my skin. As his sole heir, I am to be nothing but perfect. 

“Come on Paige, let’s go home, dear.” My father turns back at me, motioning me to stand up with his hand offered to me. I take it, very lightly grazing my callouses against his rough hands, praying that his hands are too fried from his sword to feel my hard work. “You need to have a firm grip when you rule so that you can continue our legacy of luxury. There is much more for you to learn, but it will happen in due time.”

“Of course father.” I speak to the ground. My father may be evil, but that didn’t make him a bad father. After my mother passed, he gave up on the Spirits that the commoners prayed to. He even made it illegal. He used to spend every night in the worship hall, begging for his wife to be brought back to health. When I was just a toddler, my soft skin soon became calloused because of how much time I spent on my knees.

After mom died, he was just broken. He believed that every Spirit was evil, that they deserved nothing but scorn. He only believed in what he could own, which was his money, and me. 

I know that my father is bad, he really has done things that I can’t justify. But he’s still my dad. Which is why I need to do this.

“Paige, you are dismissed for this evening. I will be having my dinner in the war room. Please have a servant send up food to your room.” My father said, back turned. 

“Of course. Have a nice evening.” I replied. As I walk down the back corridor, the sound of tile clicks back against my heels. The orange colored sky seeps into the stained windows of our forefathers. I stop to gaze at my mothers glass wall. She was always the most gorgeous. She had blonde hair just as mine, and she was warm most of all. She gave hope to the people, that we would all one day live in peace and harmony. 

We haven’t known peace since the Spirits left this world, and I fear with my mother gone that we never will. All of the sudden, I feel a tug in my chest. It’s time to go. 

My steps echo as I try to make it to my room before the disaster is over. Tossing my door open, I reach behind my head and undo my thick braid, letting it cascade down my back before I hastily tie it up in a bun. Sprinting to my closet, I change into an all black outfit. Its soft flexible material stays hidden deep behind all of my white dresses. Finally, I reach for my bow. My weapon of choice.

It is not powered by my blood like my fathers, it won’t ignite because of the fire I hold in my heart. Instead it bonded to me, just like my mother’s weapon did to her. 

My feet quietly slide across the floor in my flat shoes as I reach towards my window. I feel along the wooden white borders until I hear a click. With that I open a small hatch and I fold my body in half. My left leg sticks out of the window, and I try to snatch it on the terrace. 

Oh my Spirits. I swear I am going to die doing this. “Come on Paige. The first time’s the charm. Who’s ever fallen out of a palace window.” 

You. It’s going to be you. I silently think to myself. On my last swing, I successfully hooked my ankle onto the wood and used that momentum to pull out my arm and grasp the wooden structure. Half of my body hangs off this tower and I can’t look down. If I look down I fall.

Breathe. I slowly shift my foot to the left, trying to find another diamond shape to put my foot into. I gasp. My heel almost slipped out of the hold, but I braced my body up against the tower to keep myself steady. 

I gather up the rest of my confidence and pull my full body out of the window. Every couple of steps down the ladder, I glance for my footing, the adrenaline still rushing through my veins as my feet touch the ground. 

The grass has died a long time ago, the brittle bodies still lay here in my fathers barren yard. I yearn for the time where flowers once graced this palace. 

I shake my head. That’s way far down the line. For now, I need to focus on getting water into the village. The vegetables have been long dying every season, and my father cut off all trade routes. So our people have been sending up their best to our tall tower, while they portion up whatever is edible. 

“Hey! What are you doing?” Someone screams. I shoot a quick glance in that direction, and it’s a guard.

Shit.

I sprint towards the gate, only ever sparing a couple glances behind me. My heart beats out of my chest as I scramble towards the walls of the palace. I run across the dead roots in the ground, slowing down slightly to watch my step. 

I suddenly feel my foot twist as I fall towards the ground and smack my chest to the ground, knocking the air out of me. Quickly, I scramble to grab my bow as the guard closes in on me. 

“Stop.” The guard says, quieter this time. I freeze, observing his actions from outside of my body, I can’t move.

Why can’t I move?

“I need you to leave and not come back. If you need food, I can come get some from the kitchen but if a different guard sees you, it’ll be a different story,” he warns me. I feel my locked up body thaw and the tingly feeling settles into my bones. 

“No, you don’t understand.” I try to justify.

“I understand clearly. Go now. I’m not into putting my life on the line if you stay,” this time, his gaze hardens.

“I am Paige. The princess. Trust me, I couldn’t die if I wanted to.” I reveal it to him. 

“Princess? What are you doing out here?” the guard questions. I could see him trying to process everything, the gears turning behind his head. I assume he’s just as freaked out as I am about this whole situation. 

“I am trying to find a way to the river that collapsed two years ago. Everyone is starving without it, and if I can figure out the damn code then no more children have to pass our palace with swollen stomachs.” I say, puffing out my chest. 

“Ha” he chuckles. “Good luck with that.”

“I am serious,” I said. “I know what times the guards change.”

“But you got caught by me. Imagine the guards that are protecting the most valuable resource that everyone in this kingdom wants.” He points out. “If you are going to do that, you’d need someone to help you get in and out safely.”

“And who do you suggest to do that? You?” I chuckle at that last comment. There’s no way that this nobody guard would get me anywhere. 

In the corner of my eye, I see another guard coming towards us. He seems to notice it too and his head sharply turns to glare at him, and he freezes too.

Who did I just run into?

“Yeah. Me. The same person who just saved your whole attempt.” His gaze is still locked onto the other guard. “If you don’t want my help, I can always let him find you, tell him your name. I bet you’ll be shipped right back up to that tower with some iron bars as a parting gift.”

As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. I take a second to look at this guard. He’s wearing a grey uniform that seems to lose on him, his hair disheveled, and specks of his beard growing out of his skin. He doesn’t look like the standards that my father normally upholds. That might mean he’s my best shot of accomplishing this though. No loyalties, just heart for the people.

“Fine, I’ll take your help.” I admit. 

“Say please princess.” He snarkingly replies.

“I don’t even know your name. Just help me, dude”

“It’s Kieran, and I would love to, princess. Now I need you to run.” Kieran says, his back still turned to me.

“What-?” I question before he grabs my hand, pulling me up off the ground and sprinting towards the gate. The other guard unfreezes behind us, and I can see him start to chase us.

My heart pounds against my chest as I continue to glance behind me every few paces. The dead grass cracks underneath our feet as we reach the wall. We both shove our fingers into the small cracks and hoist ourselves up the wall. As we near the top, I saw the guard run back towards the castle, no doubt to tell my father that people had snuck into the walls. 

“Well, to the water we go princess.” Kieran says.